Allen Family (Shenandoah & Botetourt Counties, VA)

John James Allen (1797-1871) of Woodstock, Shenandoah County, VA, was a noted lawyer in western Virginia in the early 19th century. He served as a district attorney, a Virginia state senator, a U.S. Representative in Congress, and a judge of both the 17th Circuit Court of Virginia and of the state Court of Appeals. He married Mary Elizabeth Payne Jackson (1805-1881), a relative of Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, and the couple had nine children, among them John James Allen II, Robert Edwin Allen, and Henry Clay Allen. These three brothers attended the University of Virginia in the 1850s.

John James Allen II (17 Aug. 1831-27 May 1898) attended U.Va. in sessions 27-28 and 30 (1850-1852 & 1853-1854). He was a lawyer, and became a judge in Botetourt County. During the Civil War he served as a captain in the Confederate Army in Company K of the 57th Virginia Infantry Regiment. After the war, he represented Botetourt County in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1874-1875 as well as farming. He married Elizabeth Maverick Houston (b. Feb.1835), and the couple had the following children: Mary Payne, Evalina Anville, Louise Houston, Elizabeth Jackson, John James (d. young), Virginia Anville, William Ross, Robert Houston, Emma Carr, Russell Houston, Elizabeth Maverick, and Cornelia Morgan Allen. John James Allen II is buried in the Fairview Cemetery, Buchanan, VA.

Robert Edwin Allen (13 Feb. 1836-1883) attended U.Va. in sessions 31-34 (1854-1858). During the Civil War he enlisted in May 1861 and served the Confederacy as a captain in Company A of the 28th Virginia Infantry Regiment. He surrendered at Appomattox. After the war, Robert E. Allen was engaged in farming near Buchanan, VA. He married Anna L. Wilson (1853-1832) and the couple had the following children: Charles Lyle, Edwin Wood, and Annie Allen. Robert E. and Anna Allen are buried in the Fairview Cemetery, Buchanan, VA.

Henry Clay Allen (19 Mar. 1838-31 Oct. 1889) attended U.Va. in sessions 31-34 (1854-1858). He became a lawyer, and in 1868, he moved to Woodstock in Shenandoah County, VA, and set up his law practice. He became a judge of the court, and speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates in 1876-1877, and served as U.S. District Attorney for the Western District of Virginia. Allen married Julia M. Gatewood (1845-1922), and the couple had the following children: Evelyn Wood, John James, Julia G., Mary Watts, Robert E., George J., William B., Elizabeth E., Henry C., Lucy Winston, Emily, Charles Gatewood, and James Allen. Henry C. and Julia Allen are buried in Massanutten Cemetery in Woodstock, VA.

References:

• Allen Family Cemetery. [website] http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vaboteto/allencem.htm (Accessed 7/16/2011).
• Allen tombstones, Fairview Cemetery, Buchanan, VA & Massanutten Cemetery, Woodstock, VA. Findagrave.com (Accessed 7/16/2011).
• Ancestry.com. 1870-1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc. (Accessed 7/16/2011)
• Ancestry.com. Virginia Biographical Encyclopedia [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000. Original data: Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography. Richmond, VA, USA: n.p., 1915.
• Historical Data Systems, comp. U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009. (Accessed 7/16/2011)
• Hyde, Dan. “Descendants of Mary Elizabeth Payne Jackson.” [website] Jackson Brigade, c2007. http://www.eg.bucknell.edu/~hyde/jackson/MaryEPJacksonAllen.html (Accessed 7/16/2011)
• National Park Service. U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. (Accessed 7/16/2011)
• Wayland, John W. A history of Shenandoah County, Virginia. Baltimore, MD, 2006. Accessed via books.google.com.